Andy Brickley on M&M: Bruins have ‘feeling of unfinished business from a year ago’

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Conor Ryan
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October 3, 2013 @ 1:18 pm
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NESN commentator Andy Brickley joined Mut & Merloni on Thursday to discuss the Bruins’ new players and the team’s chances at another long playoff run this season.

Brickley said the team looks ready for another great season, despite only getting a 13-week offseason.

“I think they’ve looked good. … With the turnover that they did have during those 13 weeks, there was a healthy sense of competition, but there was also that feeling of unfinished business from a year ago, given the way that Game 6 ended,” Brickley said. “They feel like they’re built for the playoffs. I think there’s some normalcy getting back to an 82-game regular season, and I think that preparation has been where it should be for training camp.”

Brickley added that the Bruins have the chance to be even better than they were during the 2012-13 season, but he will hold off picking the better team until he sees how the third line pans out.

“I think they have the potential to be [better],” Brickley said. “I certainly would not say that, day one, that they’re better than a year ago, although I didn’t like their malaise or their ‘When we had a chance to win the division and didn’t get it done’ attitude towards the final stages of last season, as unique as it was with the 48 games compressed. But I like the team going into the postseason. That’s why I said at the beginning of this conversation, they feel they are built for the postseason. That I agree with.

“That’s why I like this team. To say that they’re better than they were a year go, that might be a stretch right now, it all depends on … what’s that third line going to look like? Go back to 2011, the third and fourth lines of the Boston Bruins[1] were such a mismatch for other teams across the league that your top six were great players, as far as forwards, but it was forwards seven through 12 that were real difference-makers during the regular season and the postseason. Without that, you don’t win the Stanley Cup[2], and until I see that from the third line this year, I’m not ready to dub them a better team yet.”

On whether he is surprised that Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski and Torey Krug are all on the roster: “I think Torey Krug is the leader in the clubhouse because of the need for a more meaningful power play. … They’re looking for a more offensive hockey sense, hockey opportunity, that will carry the puck if you give him the ice, and Krug is at the top of the list as far as those three players are concerned, so he’s going to be in the top six automatically, just based on his skill set and what he showed you at training camp. … If it just went on merit alone, I would think it would be Krug and Bartkowski in the top six, with Hamilton being the extra guy to start the season, but all three bring what the Bruins are looking for the change on what they’re trying to get done on the back end.”

On what he has seen from the team’s new players so far: “[Jarome] Iginla, as advertised. This guy, I think he got a lesson firsthand on what it’s like to play against the Boston Bruins[1]. I don’t think he had a real concept of what the Bruins were all about, being in Calgary all of those years. He got that in the postseason last year playing for Pittsburgh. But he’s a Bruin, prototypical player. Plays hard, does everything hard, goes to the net hard. … So, he is as advertised. I think he’ll be a terrific addition. … LouiEriksson, haven’t seen as much of him. … I had to rely on conversations with coaches and just an education on what this player is all about. He’ll be a terrific player.”

On whether he likes the way the Bruins are situated in the new-look Atlantic Division: “I love it, just on competition alone. I’m excited for this Bruins season and even though I’m not saying they’re a better team than a year ago, I am saying this is a really good team built for the postseason. I expect Pittsburgh and Boston to be the two division winners when all is said and done at the end of the year. But I like this division in the sense of competition. Four of the Original Six, Detroit, you get them four times. … I like the idea that you have to win the division. … What I don’t like is the fact that you have 16 teams in the East and 14 teams in the West. I don’t like that. Just on numbers alone, it’s more difficult to make the postseason if you’re in the East.”

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